you can get it too. welcome to the party. introducing gig-speed internet from xfinity. finally, gig for your neighborhood too. welcome to "inside politics." i'm john king. thanks for sharing your day with us. this bipartisan shock and sadness today here in the nation's capital. one of its most colorful voices, senator john mccain diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer. plus back to the bargaining table. nudging republicans to resolve health care differences. more talk sdg not resolve the giant policy divide. we begin though with an angry, frustrated president. six months to the day after taking office. remarkable, does not do justice to the words and tone of the president of the united states

in an interview with the "new york times." especially when it comes to the investigation of russian election meddling and broader questions about possible collusion and obstruction of justice. the president in that interview lashing out at former fbi director but harshest words aimed at jeff sessions now on the outs of the president for recusing himself from decisions related to the russia meddling investigation. >> sessions gets the job. right after he gets the job he recuses himself. >> was that a mistake? >> well, sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job, and i would have picked somebody else. >> would have picked somebody else, the president says to have his own attorney general. with us, dana dash, abby

phillip, sara murray and jonathan martin. attacks on anything and anyone related to the russian investigation are trademark trump. in character, the policy context gets lost, though, in a personal drama. in one interview the president of the united states who has the power to fire these people ignores long-standing protocol. not only discussing details of an ongoing investigation takes shots at those leading it or the agencies assisting it in the case of the justice department. venom at the attorney general is particularly telling. >> so jeff sessions takes the job. gets into the job. recuses himself. i then have -- which -- which, frankly, i think it's very unfair to the president. how do you take a job and then recuse yourself? if he were to recuse himself before the job, i would have said, thanks, jeff, but i

can't -- i'm not going to take you. it's extra freedomfreedomly -- extremely unfair and that's mild words to the president. >> jumps out at you. not just about the russian investigation, but twice, extremely unfair to the president. sounds as if donald trump, jeff session's job as attorney general -- donald trump used it as protecting the president. which is not the attorney general's job. but that is how in that interview the president is portraying it. how dare my friend step aside and follow the advice of the attorneys, follow what everybody says is the good law and step aside because of involvement in the campaign. how dare he do that. extraordinary. >> yes. and it really raises a lot of questions about what would happen if jeff sessions did step down and trump were to find someone else to fill that job. is he looking for someone to involve himself in this investigation breaking all sorts of rules and protocols and

ethics that's what he wanted from sessions. when sessions couldn't do it, he soured on him quickly. we have could underscore how dramatic this is. this was essentially the only person to endorse donald trump in the early stages of the campaign. been loyal to him. installed loyalists in the white house and now their relationship is toxic, and almost non-existent and reflective how powerfully -- powerful this russia thing has been. >> and again, the president of the united states saying it's unfair to the president. >> in the third person. >> but that's about him. that the chief law enforcement officer of the united states is not supposed to follow the facts or the law. he's supposed to be fair, or partial, what you read from the president's tone, to the president. >> this is something that the president has been spewing about and ruminating about and angry about for months. since the day that jeff sessions recused himself. i mean, there was, you know, a

famous, i guess now infamous blowup in the oval office we reported on realtime when the president was around his staff. he was absolutely furious. and that has not stopped. the anger has not slowed. has not diminished. and, you know, from -- our reporting we've talked about this for a while he has been saying this. even asking random people he talks to. what do you think? do you think he needed to recuse himself? people with and without a law degree. something that he cannot let go of, and he was clearly comfortable with your colleagues at the "new york times" sitting in his office -- >> one staffer. >> one staffer. >> and the rest of his staff has to listen to the interview after the fact on a tape recorder, because they don't know what he said. >> yeah, but -- exactly. >> that is -- as in character, lashing out at his own people. >> oh, yeah. no question. >> and make two other comments

here. we have been covering this president for over two years now as a political actor. we have gotten used to him breaking norms, deviating from long-standing protocol but what is striking about this moment is that it's not just his behavior. it's the behavior of more traditional politicians. have you heard one leading governor or senator in the republican party stand up today and say, this is outrageous conduct. we are -- in awe -- >> talk about that very point. telling me senator orrin hatch senior republican said these words will come back to haunt the president. chuck grassley just said the attorney general must be independent. stepping out to a degree. >> but there's a pattern to this. those comments come as one offs in response to a discreet moment. you have not seen any gathering of senators or governors of party leaders to collectively confront this president about his conduct. that hasn't happened. that did happen eventually in watergate. >> took a while. >> secondly, amazing, jeff

sessions as of noon is still the attorney general of the united states of america. he saw and heard the president's words last night. he doesn't care about the president's words, enough to step down today? >> listen to that. the president goes after jeff sessions. you heard that twice there, saying unfair to the president what he did, we know he's mad about it and goes after rosenstein, decided to appoint robert mueller independent counsel. mocks him. donald trump is from baltimore. only republican. can't find republicans in baltimore. if you understand the history of trump you understand the insult of that. both trying to be number one and two, vor important agency in the united states government, enforcing the laws of the land stepping forward making what they view a big case announ announcements and defend staying on the job. >> i have the honor of serving as attorney general. it's something that goes beyond any thought i would have ever had for myself. we love this job. we love this department and i plan to continue to do so as

long as that is appropriate. >> as the attorney general said we are working here every day to advance the priorities of the department of justice, the administration and proud to be here yesterday proud to be here today and proud work here tomorrow and we are spending every minute working to advance the interests of the department. >> maybe the answer is self-evident. the president of the united states does he not understand he is not supposed to influence the work of the attorney general and the deputy attorney general of the united states? >> i don't think he cares. i just don't think he cares. i don't think we should be surprised that loyalty is the ultimate barometer in the president's eyes that was very clear throughout his presidential campaign. and there was no shift for these, this team when they got to the white house. there was no, oh, now you're the president of the united states. now we are working in the west wing. now we represent the american people, whether they voted for you or not. that's not the way this president thinks about it or his team thinks about it. one of the things that was so telling about this interview in the "new york times" is that

it's so clear how much the white house has been lying to cover up for the president. oh, he's not obsessed with the russia investigation. focused on his agenda. no, stands by his attorney general jeff sessions. trump went out during the transition and railed against cnn as fake news for reporting about this dossier that now the president has confirmed that interaction and james comey confirmed that interaction under oath. i mine, the full-time job of trying to cover up how angry the president is about this. how angry he is about the russia investigation. i mean, it's time these people -- >> then the question is why and having covered past administrations under investigation, one of the things you listen for, they know more than we do. the president of the united states nois a lot more about this investigation than we do. briefed by his attorneys. what documents do they ask for? who do they want to question or are they talking to. why this is quite telling. listen to them asking the

president what if bob mule zer not just interviewing russian election whether your aides had improper meetings with the russians but looking into your personal finances? >> looking at your finances, your family's finances unrelated to russia. is that a red line? >> would that be a breach of what his actual -- >> i would say so. i would say, yes. >> i would say, yes. i would say, yes, when asked if that would be a breach. michael zeldin a cnn legal contribut contributor, veteran attorney in the town part of special investigations in the past looking at all the people bob mueller hired and says he has no doubt that this is a money laundering financial transaction much more than a hacking investigation when looking at the caliber of people brought in. one more point from the interview, donald trump brings up this -- >> i don't -- i don't -- i mean it's possible that it's over something -- i sell a lot of are condo units and somebody from

russia buying a condo. who knows. no make money from russia. >> talks about a condo or two telling me about the mind of the president of the united states as he understands where this investigation is headed. >> that was a tell. no question. that he does have a sense of where it's headed. he does have a sense that perhaps bob mueller may be already looking into the financial situation and the financial ties that his company and his family may or may not have had in russia. the fact he brought that up unsolicited, very interesting. >> and speaking of red lines. i'll make the point again. is it a red lane for the congressional lane of the congressional party if they fire bob mueller? their red line to confront this president about his behavior? again, so far, they do these one-off comments but no collective action. if he does that, there is a reprise of the saturday night massacre, when nixon did the same thing does that prompt more

folks on the hill to go to the president? >> pressing question. interview, beyond remarkable if you haven't remembered or heard it, do it as soon as you can. i don't care how you voted, it's worth listening to the mind-set of this president. and more on hillary clinton, on parades and long handshakes. next, show, emotional and bipartisan sadness and lawmakers get word senator john mccain is battling an aggressive brain cancer.

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trip? >> tough as -- >> ready to go at every moment. i'm telling you. when you travel with john mccain, you get up early and you work until late at night. that's who he is. he's there -- he's there to ask

questions. there to probe. he's there to find out information and he's there to push hard. massachusetts democrat l elizabeth warren. praising senator mccain, heard across the political spectrum and washington processes word, senator john mccain now fighting an aggressive form of brain cancer. the diagnosis first reported by our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta. sanjay is with us live with the latest. start with what the doctors discovered and then move on to the prognosis. >> sure. you know, you remember john, last friday, senator mccain went in for a routine visit. a scheduled visit but complained he'd been feeling fatigued the last few months, had a bout of double vision. whatever it was doctors were concerned enough to get a cat stan. that showed a blood collection right here. left frontal area just behind the forehead. he had an operation a few hours

later. concerned enough to urgently perform that operation and found the blood collection and thought they saw something else at that time. in the operating room, but weren't sure. take as few days for the final diagnosis to come back, which is as you point out, john a tumor. a type of brain cancer known at glioblastoma. this is a brain kansacancer, st in the brain as opposed to somewhere else to the body and spreads to the brain. a surprise for the senator and his family and also the doctors. they thought maybe just a blood collection. if anything, related to his melanoma, he's had in the past, but, in fact, it is this glioblastoma, john. >> an 80-year-old man, stubborn and as tough as they come. and every american has a family story about cancer, and this particular type of aggressive brain cancer, in washington you mention it, beau biden, ted kennedy come to mind. what's the prognosis for the senator?

>> you know, numbers and data and stats are something doctors are reluctant to talk about because every patient is different, john. you just talked about different patients. but if you do look at literature, which you'll see median survival, about 14 1/2 months, about 10% of patients survive five years or more and all of that is with additional treatment. so in addition to the operation, now i'll tell you talking to doctors yesterday, they believe they were able to remove all the tumor, postoperative scan did not show evidence of tumor still there. after that operation, you still have to assume, though, there's microscopic bit of tumor there and, therefore, additional therapy in the form of chemotherapy and radiation. typically this is what happens. there's a few weeks between the operation and that therapy starting because you want to let the patient in this case senator mccain recover, and heal from his incisions, for example before starting that. my guess, talking to doctors,

within the next few that's likely to be the course of action. >> sad news, sonya, but thank you for the important insights looking forward and wish senator mccain the best. follow politics just a little, you know lindsey graham of south carolina is mccain's closest friend in the senate. >> the truth of the matter is that no one saw this diagnosis coming. you know, i started getting a little emotional on the fophone because i can't think of anything i've done since 1999 politically in many ways personally that was worth doing without john. so that's just sort of hit me last night and just -- i can't think of anything i've done, any tied up end, i haven't been there with him or he with me. >> there is a lot of foe emotion and friendship in washington. that is not foe. these are two very close men and it's interesting. i don't want to make this an obituary conversation. we expect senator mccain to be

back. he fweettweeted, i appreciate t support i'll be back in congress soon, amen. stand by. a crusty sense of humor. but he is -- throw adjectives around often but he is a unique force and unique voice in washington because of his history as a p.o.w., military service, american hero, role as republican presidential nominee and because he, like it or not calls it like he sees it and can be a thorn in both partieses' sides from time to time. >> two thoughts. i don't think a lot of peoprecoe this. during every recess he's gone abroad and become a de facto chief diplomat for this country, and what he's been doing is reassuring people across the world that america is still america. and that you might have concerns about what's happening back with the trump administration, but we're still the country that you know.

oftentimes joined by trips with lindsey graham. it's tough for folks in washington it hear this news, that it's not just about one senator as famous as he is having a tough diagnosis. it's the symbolism of somebody who represents an earlier country, and somebody who reflects and earlier time in this country, and the possibility that that era might be coming to an end. >> elizabeth warren you saw at the beginning of the blog holds the seat once held by ted kennedy. and on the trip with john mccain to afghanistan. taking trips. delayed going home to arizona to see doctors to take that afghanistan trip and to the point he's home you won't see him on the floor of the united states senate, bull while in commercial break, john mccain proving don't count me out. >> sent out a press release going after the administration, after the trump administration, because of reports, in quotes, that the administration is playing right into the hands of vladimir putin by apparently

thinking about reducing the assistance to the syrian opposition. i mean, this is the kind of thing that john mccain has been, you know, to say he's a ed whoer. i mean, leader means that you have people even close to you and following. he is so out there on issues like this. aggressively. not letting go. i can tell you just in talking to people around him yesterday, even as he was getting this diagnosis, he was still calling the press office. dictating press releases just like this. remember, he didn't have the diagnosis but just had surgery releasing a pretty consequential press release on health care. helped torpedo the tell the care bill and to give you also a sense. we've all covered john mccain for years. his president's race, races, and him in the senate, but just to kind of give you a sense of how he is revered in a bipartisan way. i talked to a democratic

senator, ended up telling him the news. this is a democrat. a very port san democrat. broke down in his -- crying. crying hysterically. not just because he loves john mccain the man, but because of what you said. because this is a guy who has such leadership on both sides of the aisle, and he's one of the few people around who can still get people to stop and listen and put down their partisan -- >> yes, and sneak in this point, the generational difference, philosophical difference, john mccain from a past era of politics, not too far in the rearview mirror but we forget in the days of the blogosphere and hard partisanship in the media. president obama tweeting john mccain a hero, one of the bravest. cancer doesn't know what its up against. give it hell, john. 2008 opponents. and in that campaign, the first african-american leading candidate for president of the united states, iconic moment for john mccain was this.

>> i got to ask you a question. i do not believe -- i can't trust obama. i have read about him and he's not -- he's a -- he's an arab. he is not -- >> no. no, ma'am. >> no? >> he's a decent family man citizen that i just happen to have disagreements with on -- on fundamental issues, and that's what this campaign is all about. he's not. thank you. thank you. [ applause ] >> didn't twhan election. was never gone to win the election. a big democratic year but not willing to take the bait on issues like that, a signature of a different kind of politics. >> quite a difference from the tone of politics we're in today, where our current president questioned for a very long time whether president barack obama was in fact born in the united states. talking about a different era of politics. yeah. john mccain embodies this service to our country, does embody a political discourse i

think people miss a little bit. >> and annapolis grads hate this but he reflects the west point motto. duty, honor, country. you are so screwed. >> senator, we had nothing to do with that. going rogue on us down there. up next, republicans leave a white house meeting with the president trying to find an obamacare compromise and fail again. americans watching at home, think this debate maybe should try something different. we check our phones 85 times a day.

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by the gig or unlimited. call, or go to xfinitymobile.com. xfinity mobile. it's a new kind of network designed to save you money. welcome back. the obamacare repeal and replacement debate dominated the first six months of the trump presidency and those watching in the real america getting frustrated with this debate. thinking maybe it's time, maybe it's time for the members of congress to try a different approach. let's look at new numbers from a brand new cnn pom. starters, 35% of americans say the congress should abandon plans to repeal obamacare. more than one-third of the country saying forget about it. stop trying to repeal another third, 34% say repeal, onliful you have replacement. important lesson to republicans as some debate whether to repeal now and take a couple of years to debate replace. 18% say repeal even without

replacement. conservatives saying they want this law gone as promised by republicans. this is interesting. 77% of americans say it's time to try for a bipartisan approach to this. not republican-only. only 12% say continue with the republican bill. meaning a lot of republicans are saying it's time to work with the democrats and try to work out some sort of a fix to obamacare. this is interesting about whether you think this will happen. at the beginning of the trump administration, 50% of meshes thought they'd fishy how to repeal and replace obamacare. by april, watching the debate in washington, can't blame you. confidence that would happen dropped to 20%. now just 18% of americans think it is likely the president will be able to repeal and replace obamacare. a signature trump promise. one reason the president called republican senators to the white house yesterday and told them try again. in doing so, singled out one very vulnerable republican senator from nevada. >> any senator who votes against

starting debate is really telling america that you're fine with obamacare. you didn't go out there. this was the one we were worried about. you weren't there, but you're going to be. you're going to be. [ laughter ] look. he wants to remain a senator. doesn't he? okay. and i think that the people of your state, which i know very well, i think they're going to appreciate what you hopefully will do. >> it didn't work. but i do think for all the criticism of the president, people say he haends been hands on our used his bully pull it, in a strategic way in the health care debate gets points for calming them down. look, you promised this to the american people, you have to try again. they did try. none of the pros stuffs seems closer to being dub. culling out dean heller in the meeting, smart arnot so smart? gentle, not so gentle? carrot stick? >> you know, in the meeting, it was, it was fine. i think he was better than he has been on the subject.

but it's already really late to be doing this sort of thing. it is far too late and frankly, this is not where hi strong suit is. next week he's going to youngstown, ohio, and will have a campaign rally. it remains to the seen -- i will be looking carefully to see how much he talks about health care at that rally. because these are the kinds of things that republicans want him to do. some 30 -- 38% of americans support donald trump after everything that has happened in the last six months. half of those people support the republican health care bill. there's a huge gap between his support, support for this bill and almost nothing has been done on that, and just to point out, you know, colleagues asked trump about health care in this interview last night and he didn't even know when mitch mcconnell xesscheduled the vote for. there is a problem here. i don't think this lunch on

tuesday will fix it. >> i think you're right. i think it's definitely too late, but the fact of the matter is that he did yesterday what people have been begging him to do from inside the white house, and from on capitol hill for a very long time. which is show leadership. use the bully pulpit. do it. my understanding, people who have been around washington a long time, mark short, his legislative affairs aide, and kellyanne conway sat down and wrote out remarks that you would write for, forgive me a normal republican president to give. you know, with all of the talking points. substantive talking points selling the -- the crux and the meat of the legislation, which they had failed to do and allowed their opponents to come in -- >> so ask that cya? to say to all the people for months, where are you? that he did it? too little too late or invist, use it and say don't go home in august. i don't care you didn't work it out last night. try again today, try again

tomorrow. i'm going to lecture you until you figure it out? >> what she was saying. go to youngstown, ohio. regurgitate the same we heard on the campaign? >> at odds on health care. >> go and say your premiums are going up, insurers pilling out of the market, we need to repeal and replace obamacare? or go in and say, here is what we will do to be better than what you have. i understand that your governor is concerned about this and understand the risk and concerns but we won't leave you out there high and dry. it's not what i campaigned on. i won't let republicans do that. here's what our plan is. here's why it's going to be good for your life. >> in part, had the meeting and republican senators in town went down out of respect for the president. almost every one said they didn't think their mind would be changed going in no matter where they were in the debate. the "new york times" yesterday, a smart republican operative, worked for the group that elects senators. right now nobody many afraid of trump. a real problem. the truth is he hasn't tried.

the point we talked about. where is he on local talk radio? where's the trip to kansas saying, hey jerry, jerry moran. we're close on this and could yo use your help. i don't get why you haven't been more engaged. >> look at dean heller's reaction when trump cajoled hill. he basically laughed at the president sitting next to him. wasn't taking his threat seriously. i talked yesterday to some who might challenge dean heller in a primary. danny tarkanian, who has not heard from the president or the administration. not like there's after effort to target heller by scaring him. look at who defied this president and basically broke the back of this bill. shelley moore kacat capito. not voting for the bill. her state went for donald trump by 42 points last year. do you know how many times trump has gone to that state to campaign for this health care bill or anything? zero. they have to reason to be afraid of him. when he goes to ohio next week, will he mention rob portman by

name? we'll see. hasn't done it yet. they're not scared of him, and not scared of somebody, they don't feel like that somebody has sort of political support that would make them want to help them, if you're a politician and you don't have those two emotions, you don't fear him and you don't want to help him because he's popular -- >> they did try the fear factor. they did try the schtick with the president's super pac releasing that ad, and yanked it back. >> done in a horrible way. timing horrible. tried something, certain times you scratch your head for the timing and strategy. the white house political operation, six months in could, use a reboot. up next, the president in his own words wants a parade down pennsylvania avenue. talks hitler and napoleon and wonders why the new president of france, yes, loves holding his hand. st saved me hundreds of dollars on my car insurance. huh. i should take a closer look at geico... (dog panting) geico has a 97% customer satisfaction rating!

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scored, looked at reviews and judged how much it will affect people the revised plan to repeal and replace obamacare. 2345 legislation at the moment doesn't have a pulse. senators try to revive it, increasing the number of uninsured americans by 22 million by the year 2026 and reduce the deficit by $420 billion. over ten years. cbo scoring part of the debate as republican senators meet and try yet again to reach a compromise on their legislation. keep track of those negotiations. more from the president's colorful if not always factual conversation with the "new york times." reviewing overseas travels the president said "i have had the best reviews on foreign land. i go to poland make a speech. enemies of myron in the immediate yeah saying the greatest speech ever made on foreign sole by a president." never mind that. ronald reagan, tear down that wall -- never mind. then this about his relationship with the new french president,

emmanuel macron. great guy, smart, strong. loves holding my hand. and at the time said i've noticed and donald trump goes on people don't realize he loves holding my hand. that's good as far as that guess. okay. making this hard. i mean, really. he's a very good person and a tough guy but, look harks to be. i think he's going be to be a terrific president of france but he does like holding my hand. a serious program. what's going on here? >> metaphor somewhere. >> the pictures do tell the story, but -- >> it was a delight to witness the interactions between the two of them. >> he loves holding my hand and that's far as far as that goes. >> great. they have this, like, really long -- another really long handshake, hugged in the middle. hold hands. yeah. kept going on and on and on. watching, waiting to get in the motorcade to leave and everyone's wondering, is there an end in sight to this? they actually did seem to enjoy each other's company at the parade. a momented band did a cover and

macron enjoying it, getting into it. trump leaning over, really what is happening? what are we listening to? >> watching this video. look, far be it from me to say i'm the biggest expert on hand-holding in the world. looks like the president is also enjoying grabbing the hand of both the french president and his wife there quite a bit. >> i think a ling for this president. >> the best story of journalism sitting out there, get the tape recording of the conversation of macron and his wife when they get back in the car. with the president and first lady and hear what they say. >> to that point, the president likes good reviews. he likes when people like him. >> he does. >> part of the affection from macron. invited him for bas dietille da. a parade. one of the most beautiful parades i've ever seen. in fact, we should do that one day down pennsylvania avenue and maggie haberman knew the president, how it would go, i wondered if you would say that. trump comes back, i've always

thought of that. >> that's true. inauguration. he want -- we know he wanted to have troops marching down pennsylvania avenue for his inauguration day parade, and it couldn't happen for a number of reasons, but -- >> because this is irk in. >> but the kind of thing he loves and one of the reasons why this trip was so smart on macron's part. he knew exactly what would get trump the plight bulb to go off in his head. this thing makes him very happy. >> and explain to the president if he would drag a tank down the streets of washington you'd have to rebuild them. maggie was sitting next to me. hope she doesn't mind me divulging this. the president has to be loving this. can we get that? >> what's not to love about that? >> and listen, if you promise me, they would actually fix the streets after they rolled those tankses in washington, d.c. i'm with the president. get his parade. thanks for joining us on

"inside politics." minutes away from o.j. simpson's parole hearing in nevada. brianna dealer is in the seat. live coverage after a quick break. maybe you should've done more research on them. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. switch and you could save $782 on home and auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance.

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hi there. i'm bree nonkeilar. wolf blitzer on assignment. wherever you're watching from around the world, thank you for joining us today. breaking news, o.j. simpson the parole hearing moments from now. one of the most notorious defendants in american history steps back into the spotlight and once again a legal spectacle. the heisman trophy winner turned 70 days ago will be asking a nevada parole board to set his free. convicted in 2007 on kidnapping and armed robbery charging

peritarianing to event at at las vegas hotel and claimed he was trying to retrieve personal mem ma real ba stolen from him and did not know his associates had guns. simpson sentenced to 9 to 33 years in prison. his legal team argued a verdict for the payback for a famous sflerd 1995. >> we the jury finded defendant orenthal james simpson not guilty of the crime of murder in violation of penal code 187 upon nicole brown simpson -- >> more than two decades ago, acquitted of the gruesome killings of his ex-wife nicole and friend ron goldman. it cast clairing light on issues of race, criminal justice, celebrity and also domestic violence and today's hearing for o.j. simpson begins minutes from now. simpson will make his case to the parole board of commissioners in a

videoconference. we'll bring that to you live and correspondent jean casarez in carson city, nevada, where the parole board is meeting now. jean, walk us through the hearing what is sure to be a spectacle playing out on television. how will this unfold? >> reporter: right. there are cameras in the hearing and we'll be able to watch live. what we know is that o.j. simpson will be allowed to make a statement to the parole board. say whatever he wants to say. he'll probably talk about life in prison, what he's done. we know he was on the waiting list to take courses including "commitment to change" and talk about life on the outside. what he wants for himself if granted parole and he will talk about the crimes. the crimes he was committed of. today the focus is the conspiracy counts. conspiracy to commit kidnapping, to commit robbery as well as assault with a deadly weapon. he was convicted of those counts, and this is his second

time at the parole board, because the first time was four years ago on the counts of kidnapping and robbery, because at that time, those counts and convictions had been served concurrently. the minimum was up and he was allowed to appear before them to plead his case, was granted parole on those counts but had to serve the counts to be served concurrently, and the minimum amount due, and that would be october 1st of this year. so that's why they're doing this four months in advance. following that, he can have a relative testify. we know his sister is in attendance in lovelock at the prison. he can have the victims testifying. we do know bruce fromong, the only living victim is there. he has said he will testify to allow o.j. simpson to be released. he can also have an attorney testify. at that point right here in the room right behind me, the parole board will deliberate today to

whether o.j. simpson should be released on parole. they will come back. they will deliver their decision, brianna. as i told you, he will not be released until on our about if allowed, october 1st of this year. >> the fact that back in 2014 at that parole hearing you referenced, that he was paroled on some of the charges obviously not all of them. does that give us a sense of where the parole board may fall on this? does that make us understand that they seem to think he might have reason to be released? >> reporter: quite possibly, because they look at aggravating factors, they look at mitigating factors. aggravating factors included the crime itself, but today they're going to look at conspiracy. i was in the courtroom in 2008. i saw the evidence. the evidence was that he conspired with a group of men to go into a hotel room where memorabilia dealers were expecting actual buyers and he knew guns were coming in.

he told two men, don't forget your heat. and once they got in the room, o.j. was in charge. one of the other men pulled the gun. the property started being put in pillowcases and o.j. was in control of that room. they might have him questions about the aspect of conspiracy. talking and agreeing to commit a crime with those that you know, your friends. but saying that, there are mitigating factors. he has never been convicted of a crime before. that will help o.j. simpson. that acquittal in california will help o.j. simpson today. >> all right. jean casarez there in carson city. i want to bring in correspondent paul vercammen in lovelock, nevada, at the medium security prison will o.j. simpson is being held.prison officials say simpson will largely stayed out of trouble. what do we know about his time in prison? >> reporter: in talking to two former guards and a forrer inmate, we learned o.j. simpson

did indeed and records show it as well stayed completely out of trouble here. favorable for him in terms of getting paroled. they say that o.j. simpson spent a lot of time here coaching softball, playing fantasy football. at times ballooned in weight. was on a bit of a junk food kick, sources told us. eating 2,000 calorie cinnamon rolls but lately o.j. simpson has trimmed down. so the good news for his camp and his team is, they have this grid in nevada. parole commissioners do, that they follow. the higher the score, the less the chances of getting paro par. by all accounts, simpson, now 70 years old, will score very low on that risk assessment's grid. >> paul vercammen in lovelock, nevada. thank you so much. i want to bring in our panel now to take a closer look at the legal issues. and we are seeing here, this is his daughter, i believe.

is that right? this is o.j. simpson's daughter? arnelle? there in the -- parole board hearing room. as they are awaiting what we are expecting to be testimony from o.j. simpson himself. we'll monitor these live pictures as this is going to get going here in a matter of minutes. with me here in washington is trial attorney j. wyndal gordon. in new york, cnn senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin, former federal prosecutor and author of "the run of his life: the people versus o.j. simpson." the definitive book on this and cnn legal analyst and criminally defense attorney danny savalas as well as cnn legal analyst paul callan who served as co-counsel for nicole brown simpson's case in the civil case against o.j. simpson in which o.j. simpson lost. and mark geragos and sieve's rights loyal areva martin.

jeffrey, 13 years to the day after o.j. simpson was acquitted of the double murder of nicole brown simpson and ron goldman, the jury in las vegas found him guilty of armed robbery and clearly it seemed as if his acquittal, which many people thought was, know, was wrong, clearly that impacted the sentencing? >> well, the judge very specifically said that she was not considering the -- the acquittal in the murder case. i didn't believe her then. i don't believe her now. i think everything about the las vegas case was affected by the los angeles acquittals. remember, you know, the other people in that hotel room had guns, or at least a couple of them did. they got probation. or they got very low sentences. o.j. simpson didn't have a gun and got this enormously long

sentence. i don't feel sorry for o.j. simpson at all. i think he killed those two people, ron goldman and nicole brown simpson. i think he should be serving life without parole in california. but under the laws of nevada, it seems very clear to me that he should be released today. ordered released. >> that's right. because it would be october, soonest he would be released. what you're looking at here on our screen is four commissioners of the parole board and as this plays out, they will have to be unanimous in their decision iei deny parole. if not unanimous, they bring in others to get a majority vote out of seven commissioners. there needs to be four of seven to -- at least four out of seven to either deny or grant o.j. simpson parole. danny, as we look at these commissioners here, and we've

seen, i think, certainly one of them i've seen before. how are members here of the parole board going to decide whether o.j. simpson should go free? what do they consider? >> a lot like a jury. we don't know how they deliberate, but i can tell you nevada is a very, very well-defined system tore deciding whether or not a parolee could be high risk or low risk. in this case it's true. o.j. simpson scores pretty well in factors like his age. older people it's shown do not commit as many crimes. he's participated in prison, stayed out of trouble. good for him. on the other hand, he still committed what is considered in nevada a high and possibly even the highest level of sfar sfa y severity of crime as considered by the parole board. that is what makes this a 50/50. >> sorry to interrupt.